Poker is a card game played in many ways around the world. It involves betting on which hand is the best according to that specific game’s rules. It can be played for fun in private homes, or professionally in the halls of famous casinos and tournaments. It can be played with standard cards or stripped decks, with all cards shared or dealt face up or down, and in one round or several rounds of betting.
There are hundreds of different poker games, from home game variations played for pennies and matchsticks to multi-million dollar professional events. While there is certainly a fair amount of luck involved in poker, it also requires a considerable amount of skill and psychology.
Most established poker games use chips to represent dollar amounts during play. The denominations of the poker chips vary, with higher value chips having different colors to distinguish them from lower values. These colors are generally consistent across establishments, and allow security systems to better monitor the action at a table.
The game of poker has a worldwide set of official rules, administered by the Professional Tournament Directors Association (Poker TDA) which governs major casino and poker room sponsored tournaments. The organization is a global network of cardroom operators, circuits and poker leagues that meet every two years to review the rules and put into place new reforms. Its membership includes many of the world’s most famous poker players, including WSOP champions like Phil Hellmuth and Mike Postle.
